Tag Archives: doshas

This week my guest is Ayurvedic practitioner Niika Quistgard. Niika (@AyurMama) is an internationally-recognized consultant, trainer and practitioner in Ayurveda and is the founder of AyurMama.com.

Niika was the founder and director of Rasa Ayurveda Traditional Healing Centre for Women in Kerala, India — a full-service Ayurvedic residential hospital — where women came from more than 50 countries for treatment and educational immersion at the source of Ayurveda.

When I first learned the basics of Ayurveda years ago, I found it phenomenally helpful. I’d been living my life oblivious to how the environment around me affected my sensitive constitution, which made me alternately anxious or grouchy or ungrounded more often than was necessary. When I say the “environment around me,” I’m referring to everything from the weather, to the company of the people, to the room I work in all day long.

After years of practice, the principles that I’ve integrated into my life are second-nature. And they guide the way I eat, the way I practice, and the simple rituals I do if I need some grounding.

For this episode, Niika offered specific self-care ideas for calming the vata dosha when it goes out of balance. Whether you’ve never heard the words vata dosha uttered or you already know your prakruti, this episode offers enough background about Ayurveda paired with creative self care ideas and reminders that it will be helpful to everyone. Here are some more details about our conversation:

* We start with the basics — What is Ayurveda?
* How the three dosas form the unique blueprint of your constitution
* The qualities of the vata dosha
* What are the common things we do that cause vata imbalance?
* Why is vata imbalance so common?
* A morning routine to stay grounded
* Food choices for high vata times
* How can you practice or teach yoga during times when vata is running high?
* A simple way to take the calm state of Savasana with you after practice

“We used to laugh about the magazine article checklists of all the things you need to do to be more beautiful. We don’t need the checklist. We need the motherly attitude of, ‘What’s going make the difference for you today to be your best self?'” — Niika Quistgard

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Andrea Ferretti and Jason Crandell are a husband and wife team who have been teaching, writing about, and living their yoga for nearly two decades. Andrea is creative director for Jason Crandell Yoga Method. Jason is an internationally recognized vinyasa yoga teacher. They live together in San Francisco with their full-time boss, Sofia-Rose Crandell, age 6. To find out where you can train with Jason live, check out the Schedule page.